Crypto Startups Witness $1B Venture Funding Surge; Numerous Projects Land Significant Investments
Summary:
Crypto startups saw a significant surge in venture funding, hitting the $1 billion mark in April, for the second consecutive month. This development indicates a renewed investor interest in the bull market. HashKey Capital is focusing on primary and liquidity investments, especially on projects related to decentralized infrastructure, tokenization, and institutional adoption solutions. Various startups such as Colosseum, Volta Circuit, Hemera, Zeta Markets, Moso, Crestal Network, and Zest Protocol all secured impressive funding for diverse projects ranging from accelerator programs, smart wallet platform, data management, on-chain perpetuals, e-commerce integration, to lending protocols.
Crypto startups enjoyed a peak of venture funding in April, with a $1 billion investment translating to 161 funding rounds. This marks the second month in a row that this milestone has been met, signaling a resurgence of interest from investors within the bull market. Chip Chan, a significant player at HashKey Capital, has noted key factors gaining traction in the venture capital realm such as decentralized infrastructure, tokenization, and institutional adoption solutions. Presently, HashKey Capital is directing its focus on both liquidity and primary investments. They are keen on late-stage or budding early-stage projects that hold promise for the long haul or those that will have liquidity soon. The venture firm is also finding the nexus of blockchain and artificial intelligence fascinating, given how enhanced data analytics—a product of AI—presents deeper market perceptions, fraud detection tools, and trading strategies that optimize the operational efficiency and security. April saw Polymarket earn $70 million in funding with the support of Founders Fund and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Meanwhile, Humanity Protocol became a unicorn, valuing at $30 million. In this VC Roundup edition by Cointelegraph, we look at startups that got funded in May.
Colosseum is investing $2.5M in pre-seed for an accelerator program. Renaissance hackathon winners, selected to join the accelerator program in Solana network's ecosystem, received this news. Each of the ten out of 34 projects selected from the hackathon will get $250,000 in pre-seed capital, leading to an upcoming Demo Day presentation to investors and Colosseum's Mentor and Founder Network access.
Volta Circuit was able to secure $4.1 million in seed funding from Fika Ventures, Haven Ventures, and other investors for an institutional smart wallet. This device, which is multisignature, noncustodial, and has direct on-chain governance and policy controls, will benefit from the funding for infrastructure services launch.
Hemera raised $2.6 million for Web3 data management. This funding, led by LIF Capital and Nomad Capital and assisted by Chainlink, SNZ, and several angels, will help develop Hemera's decentralized protocol to support the AI-powered on-chain data querying.
Zeta Markets received $5 million for a layer-2 on Solana. Electric Capital led the round that also included DACM, Selini Capital, Airtree Ventures, and other angel investors. The strategic funding round brings Zeta’s total funding to $13.5 million intended to built the first decentralized finance layer-2 on Solana.
Moso raised $2 million in seed investment for e-commerce integrated with cryptocurrency rewards. This platform allows users to earn cryptocurrency rewards while shopping. Strategic investors include Symbolic Capital, Dao5, Coinlist, and Polygon Ventures.
Crestal Network secured $2 million during a successful pre-seed round of funding from various venture capital firms. The startup offers services that aid Web3 developers design and deploy decentralized back-ends. The funding will be used to hasten Crestal Network’s Testnet development, team expansion, and to boost community engagement.
Zest Protocol obtained a $3.5 million seed raise for a lending protocol made for Bitcoin, a round that was led by Tim Draper’s Draper Associates. Contributors included Binance Labs, Flow Traders, and Trust Machines, among others. This funding will allow Bitcoin holders to engage their assets in on-chain lending markets.
Published At
5/17/2024 12:21:02 AM
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